Florida led nation with four bank closings in 2013

Florida's four bank failures last year were the most in the nation, but none were in Broward, Palm Beach or Miami-Dade counties, according to consumer website MoneyRates.com.

The number of bank closures was a vast improvement from 2010, when 29 Florida banks went under.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. last oversaw the closing of a South Florida bank in October 2012, when Tamarac's First East Side Savings Bank closed.

— Donna Gehrke-White

Awards

FAU wins state business plan competition

Florida Atlantic University College of Business alumnus Jan Bednar took first place at the Florida Venture Forum's fourth annual Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition, held in conjunction with its Early Stage Conference.

Bednar, who recently won first place in the FAU Business Plan Competition, beat out competitors from Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida State University, Rollins College, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of Central Florida and the University of Miami.

BedaBox, founded by Bednar, addresses the shipping disconnect for international consumers making online purchases from U.S.-based merchants. Most U.S.-based retailers do not ship internationally and do not accept foreign currencies. Through BedaBox, international customers receive a physical U.S. postal address and can pay with multiple forms of currencies including credit card, PayPal and BitCoin.

— Marcia Heroux Pounds

Financial planning

Wescott ranked 3rd in CNBC's wealth managers list

Wescott Financial Advisory Group, which has offices in Boca Raton and Miami, was ranked third on CNBC 's inaugural list of the "Top 100 Fee-Only Wealth Managers."

In compiling the list, which was independently researched, CNBC looked at how financial planners balance investment performance and their planning services and skills. Wescott has increased assets an average 13 percent over five years, CNBC said on its website. The company manages $1.8 billion of clients' assets; the average client's account is at $4.3 million, CNBC reported.

— Donna Gehrke-White

Nonprofits

Campbell Foundation makes research grant

The Campbell Foundation of Fort Lauderdale announced an $88,415 grant to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore for research to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDs during pregnancy.

The grant will help researchers study whether efavirenz, a drug widely used to treat HIV, decreases the effects of etonogestrel contraceptive implants aimed to stop pregnancy.

The Campbell Foundation has donated more than $9 million over 19 years for research on HIV/AIDs.